February 2009 Newsletter
Hello from Hunting Brook! We're hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year since we've last been in touch.
After a break during the cold and howling winds of winter, we are back at work for 2009. We got an extra little holiday due to the snow and spent a couple of days toboganning down the hill and generally being silly until the snow melted and we could get into the garden again.
A tour of the garden on this damp, late February morning has thrown up a few beauties waiting to be admired, including, most notably, the hellebores and the snow drops. Of the snowdrop collection, Jimi has crowned Galanthus ‘Magnet' and G. ‘Desdemona' the best, with ‘Desdemona' being particularly quick to bulk up. The winning hellebores were Helleborus x nigercors, a pale yellow-green lovely , and H. ericsmithii, an early bloomer with white flowers tinged with rose. Also beginning to bloom are Chrysosplenium macrophyllum and crocuses while other spring staples such as Dicentra slowly poke their noses above the surface.
For those of you who are tired of looking at dreary , bare beds and borders for the past few months, you could try planting a few herbaceous plants and shrubs this year to give you and your garden a bit of a boost next winter. To jazz up the winter garden, you could do worse than investing in Jimi's top favourite plants which will give good seedheads for the winter such as Eryngium eburneum, Telekia speciosa and Selinum wallichianum and winter/ early spring flowering shrubs such as Hamamelis, Mahonia x media ‘Charity', Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill' and Daphne laureola ssp. philippi.
What's New at Hunting Brook?
As usual, the winter has been a buzz of brain storming and creativity amid bouts of hibernation. Changes and additions to the garden for the new year include the clearing of additional sycamores from the woodland valley to allow more sunlight to reach the valley floor and the construction of a large deck at the front of the house by Ken Darker of Garden Developments (telephone 086 834 4332). The deck stretches out over part of the former beds of grasses and gives a wonderful vantage point for enjoying the Wicklow Mountains. We hope to use the deck for classes, entertaining, yoga, sunbathing, shuffleboard, hooley nights, etc. (we're trying to think laterally for the new year!) Brian Hendrick (telephone 087 122 7546) has been busy making wonderful, rustic funiture once again and has just delivered a fabulous new chair for the garden. Ongoing works include the construction of a new polytunnel for veg which we hope will be completed next month and the construction of a cobb pizza oven at the back of the house by Paul Cully of Back to Basics (telephone 085 748 1182). We're really excited about the construction of the cobb oven which basically consists of sand, clay, soil and straw structure formed over a pile of sand on a granite base and can't wait to give it a try. For those of you interested in learning more about this technique, Paul is planning to organise a class at Hunting Brook this year. We will let you know the details as soon as they're finalised.
Vegetables!
The vegetable beds are being cleared for spring planting, and Jimi has started planting seeds for this year's crops. Unfortunately, the first attempt at broad beans has been ransacked by the crows. However, this being the most optimistic time of year, we are looking forward to a glorious crop this summer, nonetheless.
Work on the new allotments is continuing now that the snow has melted and the ground dried out. The ground preparation and marking out of the allotments is being done this week and we hope that they will be available by the end of the first week or the beginning of the second week of March. We have a lovely, enthusiastic group of allotmenteers who will be joining us this year, and we're really looking forward to getting to know this new little community of gardeners. There are still a few allotments remaining, so if you are a curious novice or an old hand at veg growing and would like to join us, give Jimi a ring on 087 285 6601. All allotment holders will receive a 20% reduction on this year's veg growing courses (see below). We would recommend that beginners take Klaus Laitenberger's beginner's class so that they learn the basics of good veg growing and get a running start on their veg patch. For those who have some experience, we recommend the Klaus's veg growing for intermediates which gives more detailed information which will help you get the most out of your veg garden.
For those of you who are getting your home flower and/or veg gardens in shape for this year, Ken Darker, our handy dandy landscaper and deck builder, can supply manure by the bag or by the trailer load and will deliver. Ring him on 086 834 4332 for prices and details.
Upcoming Courses
Jimi is teaching two practical, six-week Beginner's Gardening Courses this spring for six mornings from 10 a.m. until noon. The course will cover topics such as soil preparation; cutting back; pruning; growing plants from seed; cutting and division; growing vegetables, fruits and herbs; selecting the best plants; how and where to plant them properly; plant combinations and many more techniques you can put into practice in your own garen. This course will be offered twice this spring as follows:
Tuesdays - 10, 24 & 31 March, 21 & 28 April and 5 May
or each Wednesday from the 1st April to the 6th May
The cost is €280 for six mornings.
For all of you actual or aspiring vegetable gardeners, we once again have Klaus Laitenberger's veg growing series. All day courses include morning coffee and tea and a home cooked lunch.
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Growing your Own Vegetables will be held on Saturday, 28 March from 10:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and repeated the next day at the same times. Klaus will teach the basics of growing organic vegetables in your garden, allotment or patio. Learn how to prepare the soil, sow seeds, maintain and harvest healthy vegetables year round. The cost is €120.
Growing Your Own Vegetables for Intermediates will be held on Saturday, 25 April from 10:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. For those with some experience in vegetable gardening,Klaus will teach a class with more detailed information and demonstrations of year round production of the best and most tasty varieties of organic vegetables for Irish conditions. The cost is €120.
Growing Polytunnel/ Greenhouse Vegetables will be held on Sunday, 26 April from 10:15 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Maximise the use of your greenhouse or polytunnel and extend your vegetable harvest to year round while learning to grow tender crops and herbs. Discover how to prepare the soil, rotate crops, propagate, control pests and much more. The cost is €120.
For information on additional courses, please see our website (www.huntingbrook.com).
Magazine Articles!
Sorry for not letting you all know sooner, but Hunting Brook was featured in The English Garden in November 2008 and in Gardens Illustrated in their September 2008 issue. Both articles will be available on our website soon.
Upcoming Events Outside Hunting Brook
Ballymaloe Cookery School will be hosting a course by writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven on 16 April where she be discussing how to prepare, plant and maintain a cutting garden to give fresh cut flowers from March to November. For more information check out the Ballymaloe website (http://www.cookingisfun.ie/).
Finlay Colley of Carbery Nursery near Corkagh Park, 1 mile from Newland's Cross on the Naas Road will be having a massive sale on St. Patrick's Day.
Next Saturday, 28th February, Angela Jupe will be hosting a Plant Fair at Bellefield House, Shinrone, Birr, Co. Offaly with nurseries from England, lectures and sales of woodland plants. For more information, see her website (angelajupe.ie).